


Souls don't lie (even when they should for decency's sake)

by ShadeDuelist



Series: Shade in Undertail: The Undertale Sinful Timelines Collection [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, F/M, First Time, Love at First Sight, Queen Toriel, Soriel, Underswap Soriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 09:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6001081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeDuelist/pseuds/ShadeDuelist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(the long-awaited second part of the Underswap Sin Trifecta I promised on tumblr, which by now isn't a trifecta anymore since I had more ideas but oh well)</p><p>Sans is disappointed when Alphys says he doesn't have what it takes to be a member of the Royal Guard.  After a few days of moping, he decides to stay at NTT Resort for a bit to relax and get his enthusiasm recharged - which is when he sees a poster for Royal Audiences.  So he figures he can ask Queen Toriel to make him a member of the Royal Guard!  ...But, well, one look at her and his little soul is lost forever.  And she... sees him and instantly finds herself falling as well.</p><p>(75% floof and one hell of a long fic :D)</p><p>(the lovely image at the top is by the amazing <a href="http://mayavivids.deviantart.com">MayaVivids</a>!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Souls don't lie (even when they should for decency's sake)

 

“Ugh, look, just… just _give up_ , Sansy…”  Sans looked up at Alphys, who stood ready for another round again, breathing hard, axe at the ready.  He had to admit he was very, _very_ close to doing that.  His bone attacks weren’t cutting it at all, and his non-bone attacks were… well, subpar, if he was honest to himself.  But giving up, he reminded himself, was _not_ in the diary of the magnificent Sans, protector of Snowdin and human hunter extraordinaire!  Giving up was something _Papyrus_ did, or maybe _Undyne_ , but not he!

“NO!  I WILL NOT GIVE UP, ALPHYS!  I WILL _NEVER_ GIVE UP!!  THE MAGNIFICENT SANS DOES NOT GIVE UP!!”

“Look, Sans, your attacks have been becoming weaker and weaker for the past hour or so… that last attack barely lasted a second before it fell apart!   _Give up, squirt!_ ”

“NO!  IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE RIGHT, I SIMPLY WILL NOT GIVE UP!!  MWEH!!”  Sans gathered his magic again and concentrated it into a flurry of bones, blue and white combined, but they dissipated almost immediately again, leaving him blushing in shame and looking at Alphys pleadingly, causing the reptilian monster to sigh and relinquish her battle stance, slinging her giant axe over her shoulder and walking up to the smaller skeleton.

“...Sans, it’s not giving up when it’s you and me, you know that.  It’s… taking some fightin’ advice from your friend Alphys and _trying again when you’re feeling refreshed._  ...Now c’mon, I think it’s about time we made ourselves some grub.”  Sans sighed in defeat, letting his tension go and feeling burning shame flooding in its place, shame at yet another failure to impress the head of the Royal Guard.  He needed to impress her, no matter what the cost!  If he didn’t, then how would he ever become a member of the Royal Guard?  How would he ever show Papyrus that trying his hardest would earn him success, skill, and standing?  However, looking at Alphys again, he noticed her usually-stern face splitting in a wide, encouraging smile as she added: “How’s taco’s sound, squirt?”

“YOUR OFFER OF TACOS TO QUELL THIS HUMILIATING DEFEAT IS KIND, ALPHYS, AND I’LL ACCEPT IT GLADLY… BUT ONLY IF YOU WILL ALLOW ME TO HELP YOU MAKE THEM!!”

“Heh, what, did you think I’d make ‘em all by myself, Sansy?  Huh huh huh, fat chance… you’re helping me make those tacos and you’ll be _excellent at it as usual_!!”  She grinned, grabbing hold of the smaller skeleton with her left arm and rubbing the knuckles of her right hand over the top of his skull in a painful yet familiar gesture.

“AHH, ALPHYS, D-DON’T NOOGIE THE HANDSOME SKELETON!!”

“Huh huh, go ahead and stop me, Sansy!!”, she said, though she let him go after a few seconds, clapping him on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble.  “C’mon, let’s get going and make those tacos!  Remember: _passion, dedication, and lots of special ingredients!_ ”

“YES, MWEHEHEH!!”, Sans cheered loudly, raising his fist into the air.  Cooking with Alphys, after all, was nearly as rewarding as training with Alphys, even if most of what she ate was instant noodles fresh from the packaging, claiming ‘they taste better that way anyways’ or ‘I don’t have time to cook in battle, squirt, what did ya think?!’.  All in all, Alphys the Almighty was just as awesome as she’d been when he’d first seen her and had camped in front of the door to her huge house in Hotland for an entire night, begging her to train him.  It was one of his finer moments of perseverance, and certainly not the last.

“Heh, last one to the house is a dirty Woshua!!”, Alphys said before breaking into a light jog, prompting Sans to gasp dramatically and sprint full pelt after her, laughing softly as he did so.  He’d already forgotten his having to throw in the towel… or, well, nearly forgetting it...

 

“...Hey, Sans…  You still upset about having to quit earlier?”, Alphys asked as they sat on the couch after their kitchen disaster, watching an episode of ‘Mew Mew Kissy Cutie’, which he didn’t understand at all but which Alphys loved tremendously.  Sans shrugged, scratching some guacamole off his kneecaps.

“NOT REALLY, ALPHYS… BUT I FEEL UPSET THAT I… F-FAILED.  THE MAGNIFICENT SANS DOES _NOT_ FAIL!”, he spoke hotly, puffing out his chest importantly and grinning broadly.  “I WILL HAVE TO TRAIN HARDER… PAPYRUS WILL LIKE THE EXERCISE - OR, WELL, HE WILL NOT LIKE THE EXERCISE, BUT HE’LL HAVE LITTLE CHOICE!!  I AM HIS OLDER BROTHER AND HE CAN’T REFUSE ME, MWEHEHEHEHEHEH!!”

“Pfff, squirt, you are one hell of a determined skeleton… I like it!”, Alphys said with a grin, though she turned serious again the next moment, her good eye fixing on Sans’ form, making him fidget uncomfortably and twiddle with his bright blue scarf.  “...Look, Sans… I _know_ you don’t like me bringin’ it up, but you’re still a _real long_ way away from becoming a Royal Guard.  All the others are _vicious and determined badass soldiers_ !  ...Okay, _sure_ , you have a few oddballs in there… like Doggo, or Dogamy and Dogaressa…”  Sans huffed again at the mention of those particular Royal Guards: they were the ones that regularly patrolled the Snowdin Forest on behalf of the Queen, and they’d deputized him mainly because he’d begged them to, and because Alphys had told them it was okay.  Doggo was more of a lap dog than a guard dog, though he was blind to all moving objects, making him freak out in the least snow drift; Dogamy and Dogaressa were a dog couple that used their noses more for nuzzling than sniffing for intruders.  The last time a human had come through… Sans shuddered to consider that he’d not yet offered his services to the Royal Guard back then, believing that he still needed to train and become stronger.  If he had been around, who knows what would’ve happened?  What _had_ happened was that none of the Royal Guard had been able to capture the human, and they’d made it as far as the old Royal Resort Hotel - which had now, due to the recent success of Napstaton, been renamed ‘Napstaton Resort’ or ‘NTT Resort’ for short - before they’d been apprehended by Alphys herself.

“ALPHYS, I BELIEVE I WOULD MAKE A FINE ROYAL GUARD!  JUST AS GOOD, IF NOT BETTER, THAN DOGGO AND THE OTHERS!  I KNOW YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME-”

“Yeah, you got that right, Sansy, you’re too… too _warm-hearted_ to be good like them!  If they see a human, they wouldn’t hesitate for a second before capturing them!  You?  You’d probably end up being a human’s _friend_!”

“W-WHAT?!  NEVER, ALPHYS!!  WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE SUCH SLANDER?!  AND FROM YOU OF ALL PEOPLE!!”  When Alphys sighed wearily, Sans could already tell that she would again address him _that_ way, the way he always hated her talking to him.  Her first words only confirmed his suspicions.

“...Sans.  We’re friends, so I’m always honest with you.  And I’ll be honest with you again, even if you don’t wanna listen to my advice.   _Give up_ , squirt.   _Don’t join the Royal Guard._ You’re strong enough to do what needs to be done, _physically_ at least, and _magically_ you’re more than up for it, but _emotionally_ you don’t have what it takes to _bring harm_ to a human.  You’re _good_ and _warm-hearted_ and I don’t wanna see that ruined-”

“ALPHYS, I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU’RE REALLY TALKING TO ME LIKE THIS!  I THOUGHT YOU BELIEVED IN ME!!  CAPTURING HUMANS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR FOR A YEAR, AND NOW YOU… YOU JUST… YOU CANNOT EVEN GIVE ME AN HONEST CHANCE?!”, Sans said in highly offended tones, fixing his mentor and closest friend with a saddened gaze; when she sighed but didn’t go back on her words, Sans slowly rose from the couch and answered in a more defeated but no less offended voice: “...I SEE HOW IT IS, THEN, ALPHYS.  I’LL GO HOME NOW.”

“Sans… Sans, _come on_ , you know I only tell you because I don’t wanna see you get hurt down the road!”, Alphys said loudly to his retreating back, but the skeleton didn’t stop walking.  He made it halfway back home before he realized tears were stinging in his eyesockets.  But he wouldn’t break down in tears - no, that he reserved for when he’d made it back into his room, laying down on his _cool_ bed and pressing his face deep into his _cool_ pillow with a picture of a motorcycle on it so nobody, not even Pappy, could hear him cry…

 

“...sansy, it’s been two days.  alphys is askin’ about you nonstop.  even _undyne_ is worried about ya now, and you _know_ she only talks to me when she feels like crap.  ...get out of your room.”  Papyrus’ voice sounded muffled outside his door, and the scent of cigarette smoke wafted under the door, but Sans could only muster up so much energy, and right now what little he could gather around himself was needed to lift his head off his radii and ulnae and speak without sounding like he’d been crying most of the day.

“N-NO!  TELL ALPHYS SHE NEEDS TO APOLOGISE FIRST!  AND TELL UNDYNE… UH… JUST TELL HER I FEEL JUST AS BAD AS SHE DOES!  … ...O-OR NO!  TELL UNDYNE AND ALPHYS THAT THE _MAGNIFICENT SANS_ IS DOING J-JUST _FINE_!!”, Sans said just like he’d usually speak, slowly and with energy.  Papyrus, however, wasn’t fooled, and the next thing he knew, his brother sat down on the edge of his bed, having somehow bypassed the door soundlessly.

“c’mon, sansy… you know i can read you like a book, bro.  ‘s this still about what alphys said about giving up the idea of joining the royal guard?”, he asked, his gaze worried, prompting the eldest of the two skeletal brothers to sigh and look at his gloved hands before pushing himself upright, sitting on the edge of his bed next to Papyrus.

“M-MWEH… Y-YES, IT’S STILL ABOUT THAT.  I SIMPLY CAN’T BELIEVE ALPHYS THINKS T-THAT LOWLY OF ME!  S-SHE CALLED ME WEAK-”

“way i heard it, she called you pretty damn strong, sans, but i get what ya mean.  she said you don’t got what it takes to harm anyone, not even a human.”

“S-SHE’S MISTAKEN!  I _DO_ HAVE WHAT IT TAKES!!  ‘EMOTIONALLY WEAK’ - _MWEHEHEHE_ , WHAT A BAD JOKE…”, Sans vehemently defended himself, though he next lost his drive a little again and sighed once more.  “P-PAPPY?”

“mhm?”, his brother asked, looking at him with the same worry in his eyes which had made Sans sit up in the first place.  This time, it fuelled him to speak in a half-hearted and upset voice.

“D-DO YOU… AGREE WITH ALPHYS?  DO YOU THINK I CAN’T CAPTURE A HUMAN?!”

“yeah.”  His brother’s brand of brutal, open, disarming honesty was different from Alphys’ somehow, probably because of all they’d shared so far in life.  Instead of giving in to indignant anger, Sans merely sighed in defeat, his head drooping a bit more, which was the prompt for Papyrus to speak on: “i know you don’t like hearing it, bro, but you’re too much of a jelly roll to be able to capture humans.  you saw the last human that came through, sansy, and you said yourself that that was ‘just a little kid’.  would _you_ be able to capture a _little kid_?”

“O-OF COURSE, BROTHER!!”, Sans said, though he spoke hesitantly and didn’t yet look up from his gloved hands.  He’d seen himself capture humans often enough in his dreams and wishful thoughts, but there the humans had always been _tall_ and _imposing_ and _threatening_ , not… not innocent children.  Papyrus seemed to read his train of thoughts again, because he chuckled softly and put a brotherly arm around his shoulders.

“...sounds to me like you think alphys maybe has a _point_.”

“...”  Sans didn’t speak up immediately, though Papyrus was right.  He couldn’t stay angry with his friend because, of course, she _had_ a point.  But still…  “...I STILL WANT HER TO SAY SHE IS SORRY, THOUGH.”, he admitted, and Papyrus now laughed loudly, holding him against himself a little while he did so.

“heheheh… i’ll be sure to tell her.  ...so, feelin’ a little better, big bro?”

“YES.”, Sans admitted with a sigh, shrugging and pulling his gloves on a little better.  Papyrus got up off the side of his bed again and nodded.

“good.  i’d hate for ya to let this get you down.  you’re the magnificent sans, the greatest taco chef in snowdin!”, the taller of the two brothers said, grinning when Sans shot him a look that held the middle between an annoyed eyeroll and a flattered warm glance.  “...but hey, you should get outta your room a li’l today, bro.  take a walk, go to muffet’s… alphys gave ya a week off from training and she told doggo and the others to step their shit up-”

“LANGUAGE, PAPPY!”, Sans warned loudly, though he did so with a grin of his own again.  His brother did curse a little at times, but it seemed bearable that day.  “...I WILL SEE WHAT I WILL DO.”

“heh, why don’t ya go and stay in ntt resort?”

“B-BUT… BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU, PAPYRUS?!  WHAT WILL YOU DO WHILE I RELAX IN NAPSTATON’S RESORT HOTEL?!  NO… NO, I CAN’T ABANDON MY BABY BROTHER!”, he said emphatically, prompting Papyrus to feign a wince and wink at him.

“heh, relax, big bro… i can eat at muffet’s, she’s got my back, and ya know undyne won’t let me starve, neither.  don’t worry about me, worry about _you_ , sansy.”  The words were spoken softly, but they were spoken in a definitive tone, showing that Papyrus wouldn’t be satisfied before Sans had packed his bags and was on his way out of Snowdin: the smallest of the two skeletons sighed and nodded.

“...IF YOU INSIST, PAPPY… AND IF IT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPIER, THEN I’LL SPEND THIS WEEK IN THE NTT RESORT.  BUT ONLY!  BUT ONLY IF YOU PROMISE ME TO CALL IF YOU NEED ANYTHING!  ANYTHING AT ALL!”, he added, and Papyrus nodded, looking relieved and amused.

“mhm, you know i’ll call you if i need your brotherly care, sans.  but at least try to _relax_ at the resort, okay?  live it up with room service, eat fancy steak dinners every night, maybe chat up a nice li’l monsterette-”

“BROTHER!”, Sans protested vehemently, prompting Papyrus to raise his hands in surrender.

“...or not…  but ya know what i mean, bro.  live a little!  watch napstaton in concert.  visit the capitol - last time we were there, i was still a li’l babybones, remember?”

“I DO REMEMBER - YOU WERE A VERY ACTIVE BABYBONES INDEED!  HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED OVER THE YEARS, MWEHEHEHEH!!”, Sans said teasingly, laughing when his brother snorted and scratched his hip lazily through his sweater.

“... _now_ you’re feelin’ better, big bro.  welp, my work here is done… time to go to my fifth job.”

“PAPPY, PLEASE DON’T SLACK OFF AT MISS MUFFET’S AGAIN!”, Sans called after him, and his brother nodded, unlocking the door before exiting.  “AND CUT BACK ON YOUR SMOKING!”, he added at the closing door for good measure, eliciting a mumble from his brother that was neither confirmation nor counter-argument.  Still, Sans couldn’t help but smile softly as he took an NTT-brand bright blue suitcase printed with stars and decals of bones he’d added himself and started putting in everything he’d need for his trip to NTT resort, something he admittedly looked forward to more and more.

 

“WELL, WOWIE, THAT WAS A VERY NICE DINNER!  THAT ICE CREAM DESSERT WAS VERY FLUFFY AND FULFILLING!!  NAPSTATON CAN RIGHTFULLY BE PROUD OF HIS BUSINESS HERE!!”, Sans said to himself as he walked back to his room.  He’d only been at the NTT Resort for one full day and already he felt more relaxed: Napstaton hadn’t played yet (he was set to play in two days from then, on the last evening of his stay) but he’d taken a tour of the Core together with some tourists from Waterfall and a few of the Floweys, which had been guided by Papyrus’ acquaintance doctor Undyne.  She’d been sweet but unfortunately ungifted when it came to making an impression, because she’d looked embarrassed and extremely nervous all throughout the tour, and she’d nearly run away at the end of it.  Still, it had been very nice to do, and Sans resolved to stop by her lab after his stay to properly thank her.  He knew Alphys knew her as well since they shared a liking for anime and frequently met at the garbage dump to see whether any new materials had been flushed from the human world into theirs…

Thinking of Alphys made him think of his worries again, however, and he frowned before sighing and heading on to his room, where he’d been heading in the first place.  He’d forgiven Alphys for her words, but the thought that she didn’t believe in him was heavy to bear with his usual dignity.  He considered the dinosaur-monster a friend as well as his mentor and superior, which was why he’d forgiven her for speaking so lowly of him, but he had thought that she’d believe in him.  Maybe not as the head of the Royal Guard, but… but as a _friend_ , at least!  That was the true reason, he admitted to himself, that her words had hurt as much as they had.  If she’d spoken to him as the head of the Royal Guard, he would’ve been able to let it go in a heartbeat; but she _hadn’t_.  She’d spoken to him as a friend, saying she didn’t believe in his abilities.

“...you going?”  Voices in the foyer drew his attention away from the fountain he’d been staring into and towards a small poster put up on the bulletin board near the elevator leading up to the capitol.  A dragon with a bow-tie and an amorphous form holding a cellphone stood near it, looking at it and then at each other.

“I don’t know yet.  Don’t really have anything to _talk_ to the _queen_ about, you know?  But it’s nice that she opens the palace for audiences again after all those years, don’t you know?  Maybe it means something.  Maybe it means she finally… did her grieving for her divorce?”

“...Heh, maybe.  That would be nice.  Queen Toriel is always such a lonely woman… but whatever the reason, I’m not going either.  I’ve got a business to run.”  The two figures moved off into the corridor, and Sans, curious as he always was, approached the poster that the two other monsters had been reading.

 

TO THOSE THAT IT MAY CONCERN

 

Our Royal Highness, Queen Toriel Dreemurr

will be hosting Royal Auditions

and listen to your requests and entreatments

in the Hall of Judgment

from noon until 5 PM

 

Only monsters with serious requests will be admitted!

Minimum age to be granted audience: 20.

 

Sans smiled as he read the notice.  He had never seen the queen before, only heard descriptions of her and, of course, stories of the tragedies that befell the Royal Household.  Apparently the King and Queen had had two children: a sweet and lovely, though clumsy and over-eager child of their own, called Asriel, and a human child that had fallen into the Underground which they’d adopted and treated as their own, named Frisk.  The human child had lived happily in the Underground for years, but then they fell sick and died.  Asriel, the prince, had absorbed the dead human’s soul, crossed the barrier with their body, and had tried to lay his adoptive sister to rest in her own village, but… but the humans had wrongfully assumed that Asriel had _killed_ Frisk and they’d attacked him, mortally wounding him.  It had driven a wedge between the King and Queen and had led to the King disappearing suddenly, after which the Queen instated the policy that all humans that fell into the Underground had to be captured and brought to her, so their souls could be obtained and used to break the barrier.  Sans had heard - mainly from Alphys, who of course knew the queen personally - that she was a strong-willed, very tenacious and persistent woman that had a big heart nonetheless.  Her fire magic was supposed to be the best, if Sans could take the word of his mentor, which he naturally did.

“WELL, IT WOULD BE NICE TO SEE THE QUEEN, AND PAPYRUS DID SAY I SHOULD VISIT THE CAPITOL… BUT I DON’T HAVE A REQUEST… AND WHAT IF I RUN INTO ALPHYS THERE AND SHE ISN’T READY YET TO APOLOGISE?”, he mused, sighing as he turned away from the bulletin board again, only to turn back around a second later, a sudden thought occurring to him.  Speaking of Alphys led him back to consider her lack of belief in him and her insistence that he shouldn’t try to become a member of the Royal Guard, but what if he asked the _Queen_ if _she_ thought his efforts and willpower enough to be a good soldier to her service?   “MWEHEHEH!!  OF COURSE!!  IF QUEEN TORIEL WOULD SAY THAT I CAN SERVE HER IN THE ROYAL GUARD… THEN ALPHYS WOULD HAVE TO INITIATE ME!  SANS, YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN!  WHAT A TRULY _MAGNIFICENT_ IDEA!!  EVEN BETTER THAN THOSE TACOS FILLED WITH VEGETOID LEAVES!!”, he praised himself, making a careful mental note of the starting hour and the venue of the Royal Audiences so that he could be there bright and early and thinking of the proper ways to word his request as he rushed to his room.

 

“Sans?  Sans the skeleton?”, one of the guards in front of the doors to the Hall of Judgment called out; Sans instantly ceased his nervous pacing and walked up to the tall and imposing figure in full, dark armor, adjusting his white shirt and his metal pauldrons a little.  When he’d arrived at a quarter to noon, he was shocked to see a _crowd_ of people already waiting in front of the doors.  A guard had directed him to state his business, which had been noted down on a sheet of paper and taken inside for consideration, after which the guard had exited and had told him his request for an audience had been accepted and to wait patiently for his turn.  Hours had passed during which the other people trickled inside: a family of bunnies that looked vaguely familiar, a representative of the Floweys from Flower Village…  Five PM had been approaching fast, and Sans had resigned himself to the prospect of having to return the next day just when his name had been called out.  “Identification?”, the guard asked, and Sans pulled off one of his gloves to extend a bony hand so the guard could check him, after which he got an approving nod.  The other guard looked Sans over with unseen eyes before launching into a stern speech.

“Okay, like, the queen is ready to see you now and stuff…  Remember: always address her, like, with ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’ or even just ‘my Queen’, you know?  Don’t, uhm, speak unless spoken to, and stuff…  And if the queen says, like, ‘the audience is over’, then it’s, like, _over_.  Got it, mister Skeleton?”  The voice was surprisingly feminine - then again, with a woman ruling over the entire Underground, finding that any one of the Royal Guard was female was hardly a surprise anymore.  Sans nodded gravely.

“I AM A SKELETON OF HIGH STANDARDS, MY LADY.  YOU CAN DEPEND ON ME TO PROPERLY ADDRESS OUR QUEEN!”

“That’s, like, good!  ‘Cause if we have to go in there to, uh, drag you out, that’s, like, _mega embarrassing_ and stuff!  ...Okay, go ahead and, like, enter.”, she said, opening the doors to allow him in before addressing the rest of the crowd that had gathered and saying that they’d need to come back another day: Sans could hear the disappointed ‘aww’ that sounded from the smouldering Pyropes that stood near the door, but then the doors closed behind him and he turned his attention back to the point behind his trek to the capitol and the Hall of Judgment.

“YOUR MAJESTY, GREETINGS!”, he said with extra enthusiasm, walking up to the throne that had been placed at the far end of the room, but when he made it halfway into the Hall, he halted.  The woman sitting in the throne rose, her purple cape flowing over her shoulders and almost completely hiding delicate lavender robes that fell around her tall and imposing form flatteringly.  Her entire body was covered in pearly white fur that shone softly, and her eyes, as they fixed on his, were a beautiful shade of golden brown.  She held a staff in her hands that was capped with a jewel the likes of which Sans had never seen, brilliant red and glittering as though it contained fire within it, but even that rare sight was not as beautiful to him as the queen herself, stately and graceful and _gorgeous from her horned head to her furry unshod paws_.  It was like he was struck with an invisible non-bone attack, right through his soul.

“Greetings, sir.  Please, allow me to welcome you in our fair capitol, and to extend my best wishes to you.  Do not hesitate to put your request before me, but start with your name and your living place.  I would like to know where someone as charming and dignified as you hails from.”, she said, smiling benevolently at him, and Sans nodded, though he still felt anything but at ease.  Queen Toriel spoke so kindly and warmly, a perfect complement to her stunning looks… the invisible shock that had run through him before spread throughout his limbs and made his tongue a little unwilling to cooperate just yet.

“I…  UH… I AM THE MAGNIFICENT S-SANS, AND I LIVE IN SN- IN S-SNOWDIN!  A-AND MY REQUEST… UHM…”

“Oh, I… is it a _difficult_ request, Sans the Magnificent from Snowdin?”, the queen asked kindly, and now Sans was certain, absolutely certain, that the woman in front of him was an angel, because not only did she use his title like it was _self-evident_ , but she also smiled encouragingly at him in a way that made his soul flutter.  Clearing his throat, he shook his head and spoke slowly in an attempt to minimize his awestruck stammering in front of this amazing woman.

“IT IS N-NOT A DIFFICULT REQUEST - AT LEAST, IT’S NOT A DIFFICULT REQUEST FOR YOU, YOUR GRACIOUS MAJESTY, BUT…  F-FORGIVE ME FOR BEING STRUCK BY YOUR BEAUTY AND CHARM!  I… WORDS D-DON’T COME EASILY WHEN YOU HAVE TO SPEAK THEM TO SOMEONE SO… SO… SO ASTOUNDINGLY PERFECT!”, Sans admitted - the queen gasped and put a delicate front paw to her muzzle to hide her mouth forming a perfect ‘ah’ of surprise, and one of the Royal Guards entered the room, turning to Sans with a sudden movement that startled the short skeleton: realizing he had to have made a mistake, Sans instantly bowed as low as his thick-set and bow-legged posture allowed.  “M-MY QUEEN, I DIDN’T MEAN TO… D-DISRESPECT YOU OR ANYTHING!!”

“Your Highness, do you want me to, like, _throw him outta here_?”, the guard asked, but the queen shook her head and took a step forward.

“No, no, it’s perfectly okay, 03…  I…  please assist your partner in locking the doors and escorting the people back to the gates.  That should give _Sans the Magnificent_ the chance to speak to me about what he wishes to request of his queen.”  The warmth in the queen’s voice was matched only by the fire her eyes kindled inside of him, Sans found: her slightest gaze made his chest seem to glow (fortunately, it didn’t really, that would be slightly embarrassing to say the least, he considered).  The guard backed outside again, at which point the queen smiled benevolently at Sans and walked a little closer to him.  “...Now, Sans, your praise and compliments do make this old queen feel young and dainty again, but do continue with your request…”

“M-MY REQUEST?”, Sans asked, utterly dumbstruck by her proximity, even if she still stood three steps away from him.  Then, when she giggled, his brain caught up to him again and he nodded decisively, turning his eyes to the ground in an attempt to get the words _out_ finally.  “YES, MY REQUEST!  YOUR GRACIOUS MAJESTY, I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, WISH TO BE PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”  The queen was silent for a little while before speaking up, her voice still warm but now more businesslike.

“Well, Sans the Magnificent, not just _anyone_ can become a part of the Royal Guard!  There are a lot of requirements.  We would have to test you in all these fields.  ...Are you sure you can handle the rigors of such a demanding job?”  Sans nodded vehemently, looking up at the queen again, this time feeling confident that he could voice his thoughts even in the face of her good looks.

“I AM VERY SURE, YOUR MOST BEAUTIFUL HIGHNESS!  FOR YOU SEE, I HAVE BEEN TRAINING WITH ALPHYS FOR THE PAST YEAR!  AND SHE SAYS MY MAGIC IS VERY STRONG!  SHE SAYS THAT I HAVE A GOOD ENDURANCE, TOO!  ALSO, I AM ALREADY DEPUTIZED TO PATROL THE SNOWDIN FOREST BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL GUARD THERE!”

“Oh, yes, I think I know them - the Dog Pack, right?  They come to report to me about once or twice a year.  The Hall needs to be cleaned after each of their visits - _slobber_.”, she explained with a smile that had Sans chuckle a little nervously.

“MWEH H-HEH, YES, THEY CAN BE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THEIR JOB-”

“Can _you_ be, Sans?  I would hate for you to come in requesting a job that’ll bore you after only a few months.”, the queen asked, and Sans put a hand over his heart.

“I HAVE COME HERE TODAY TO REQUEST YOU FOR IT, DOESN’T THAT ALREADY SHOW THAT I AM ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THIS JOB?  ...YOUR LOVELY HIGHNESS, I ASSURE YOU THERE IS NO OTHER JOB I COULD THINK OF DOING WITH MORE PASSION AND DEDICATION!”, he said, and the queen nodded.

“...You seem like a very good candidate.  I wonder why Alphys didn’t already initiate you.”  The sudden scrutinizing look she gave him, coupled with his own guilt that the reminder of him basically _bypassing his friend and tutor_ brought, made Sans sigh heavily and turn his gaze down again.

“Y-YOUR HIGHNESS, ALPHYS… DOESN’T BELIEVE I CAN CAPTURE A HUMAN. SHE THINKS… THAT I WOULD… B-BECOME THEIR _FRIEND_ RATHER THAN THEIR _ENEMY_.”

“And would you?”, the queen asked, now taking a minute step closer to him so she stood close enough for him to feel the movement of the air as her cloak rustled.  “Being a member of the Royal Guard means capturing humans and bringing them to me for…”  Suddenly, Sans looked up to see the queen… blinking back tears?  It prompted him to speak from the heart, less grandiosely as usual but still with every bit of his mental fire in his words.

“BEAUTIFUL QUEEN TORIEL, I THINK THAT, LIKE MONSTERS, HUMANS COME IN MANY DIFFERENT SIZES!  AND MAYBE I COULDN’T CAPTURE ALL OF THEM, BUT… BUT THE TALL, MEAN ONES WILL POSE NO PROBLEM!  AND THE SMALL, SOFT ONES… WHO WOULD BLAME ME FOR NOT WANTING TO HARM THEM?  SURELY YOU WOULDN’T THINK LESS OF ME!”

“I…”  For a second, the queen looked a little crestfallen, but then Sans spoke up again unthinkingly and straight from the heart, grasping her hand gently as he did so.

“QUEEN TORIEL, YOUR LOVELY HIGHNESS, WHATEVER YOU DID, YOU DID FOR THE GREATER GOOD AND BENEFIT OF ALL OF US.  DON’T JUDGE YOURSELF, P-PLEASE!  IT’S WRONG FOR SUCH A STATELY, BEAUTIFUL LADY TO BE BURDENED BY GRIEF!”

“...Sans…”  For a second, Sans looked up to see a vulnerable look flit over the queen’s visage, where it lingered; for a second, they weren’t the queen and the supplicant but just two monsters in a delicate moment of openheartedness.  The fur of her hands felt soft and warm, the sensation seemingly travelling along his bones unseen until it reached his soul and spread from there: it was a dizzying and novel sensation to him, but it was at the same time familiar and even _welcomed_.  He realized then, with startling clarity, that he loved his queen, that he’d do anything to preserve her, including capturing humans, a thought which he communicated avidly.

“...MY QUEEN TORIEL, PLEASE DON’T BE AFRAID OR WORRIED!  I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, SWEAR MYSELF TO YOUR SERVICE IN WHATEVER WAY YOU SEE FIT!  FOR ONE SMILE FROM YOU, YOUR MOST GRACIOUS ROYAL HIGHNESS, I’LL CAPTURE EVERY HUMAN I’LL GET MY HANDS ON AND HAND-DELIVER THEM TO THE PALACE!!”, he said, looking at her encouragingly and prompting a half-smile from her again, a warm and genuine one at that.  That alone served to make him grin, and her next words only added to that effect.

“Then, Sans the Magnificent from Snowdin, come back tomorrow at five and I’ll tell you what services you can do for me.  I’ll have to consult with my advisors - and, yes, with Alphys - about your ardor and how best to put it to use… but I think that golden heart and that silver tongue of yours could serve me well in _some_ capacity.  ...Can you return tomorrow at five?”, she asked a little shyly all of a sudden, and Sans nodded, remaining kneeled in front of the queen.

“I WILL PRESENT MYSELF HERE AT FIVE SHARP, QUEEN TORIEL!!  YOU WILL BE EVER SO PROUD OF ME, MWEH HEH!!”

“Hehehe... I think I will, too, Sans.  ...Then we will meet again tomorrow!”, she said with a slightly giddy note to her voice that the skeleton had no trouble at all matching.

“I ALREADY EAGERLY AWAIT THE HOUR, OH BEAUTIFUL QUEEN TORIEL!  W-WHICH I SAY WITH ALL DUE RESPECT AND DECORUM, O-OF COURSE!!”, he added hastily, getting up and then immediately bowing again as the queen took a step backwards, her hand slipping from his only at the last moment.  The guard at the door motioned for Sans to follow her, but even as he walked towards the figure in heavy armor, Sans couldn’t help but look back at the queen, who sat in her throne smiling back at him daintily, and his soul seemed to twist itself inside his chest, making him feel even more dizzy.  “...OH… TOMORROW…”, he sighed out before heading back to NTT Resort with a little more spring in his step, unable to keep himself from touching his fingers together at the recollection of how her furry paw had felt against those bony digits…

 

“...Queen Toriel?”  She hadn’t realized that she’d been caught up in a very vivid rêverie until she heard the voice of her Royal Scientist, doctor Undyne, sound next to her.  “If you’re distracted… I can always come back tomorrow…”, she said timidly, though not without one of her usual soft toothy smiles that never ceased to both unnerve and assuage Toriel, continuing in a slightly more upbeat tone: “...But it looked like a _nice_ thought…”

“Oh, but it was, a very nice thought.”, Toriel admitted, chuckling softly as she remembered who had featured so prominently in her daydream.  The skeleton she’d met the day before… he’d been only a slight figure, standing about half her height, if not even that, but he had held such surprising fire and warmth in that minute, thick-set body…  Then, remembering her promise, she spoke to Undyne in a more calm and collected tone.  “...Undyne, we are friends, are we not?”

“Well, y-yeah, kind of?”, the half-fish answered with some reservation in her tone, and Toriel nodded.

“...We _are_ , Undyne, don’t think we aren’t just because you’re in my service.  ...Anyway, you live in Waterfall, do you not?  Do you know many of the monsters from the surrounding lands?  Like Hotland, or Snowdin?”  The question was carefully worded and asked in an airy tone, and still Undyne seemed to find the undertone of avidity that was contained within: fortunately, the half-fish raised a scaly eyebrow but didn’t comment apart from answering the question.

“Yeah, I… well, that’s to say, I don’t get out a lot.  But I know my neighbors, and I do know a few people in Hotland and Snowdin.  I know Fluff and Fiero, those guys that set up shop near the NTT Resort… I know the Dogs from Snowdin…  I know Papyrus - laziest heap of bones I ever saw-”

“Bones?”, Toriel commented, prompting Undyne to shrug and nod.

“...Yeah, Papyrus is a skeleton.”

“I…  A skeleton monster, that’s rare in the underground, is it not?”  Now Undyne got a half-smile and nodded.

“Only three as far as I’m aware of.  Papyrus, his older brother, and the Ferryman.  And ol’ Gaster’s a genuine creep, even if he _is_ probably Paps and Sans’ father.”  Now Toriel felt an invisible bolt of electricity leap through her at the mention of the name of that charming, passionate slight skeleton that had come into the Hall of Judgment the previous day.  “...Queen Toriel?”, Undyne asked apprehensively, prompting a sigh from the queen.

“...I see.  ...Well, I do believe I’ve had the honor of meeting this Sans, who calls himself ‘magnificent’.”  Undyne muttered something under her breath that Toriel didn’t quite catch, but then the scientist continued out loud and plainly audible.

“...I don’t know Sans as well as I know Papyrus, ‘course - and Paps and I used to hang out a lot more before Professor Rivers _disappeared_ and I had to take over from them - but what I know is that he’s very passionate and very, very sweet.  The kind of guy you can depend on to try his hardest no matter what.  He loves cooking, even if he _sucks_ at it and just ends up dumping ketchup all over his dishes to hide the taste…  He… I think I saw Alphys train him a couple of times, heh… doesn’t he want to be part of the Royal Guard, too?”, she asked, and Toriel nodded, smiling gracefully though not without an accompanying blush.

“He does, indeed - that is what brought him here yesterday.  I said I’d have to talk to my advisors about appointing him into the Royal Guard.  Alphys is coming by later today anyway, I’ll ask her thoughts on the matter of his suitability for combat, but…  Undyne, since you know him, however little… do you think he’d make a good… _companion_?”

“A companion?”, Undyne asked lightly, clearly making an effort not to grin or laugh, which somehow rubbed Toriel the wrong way until the half-fish spoke up again: “...Depends on what you expect from his… _company_ , I guess.  He’s charming, he can be very witty, he _loves_ puzzles so you’ll never feel bored… he’s innocent, though.  Pure as the driven snow.  And his brother goes to great pains to make sure he _stays_ that way.  Papyrus is… fierce when it comes to Sans.  So if you plan to think about charming him into that queen-size-”

“Undyne, t-that suggestion simply will not do!!”, Toriel protested the implicit verbal jab, but the scientist already raised her hands in surrender.

“I… sorry, queen Toriel…  But, uh, Papyrus’ brother caught your eye, huh?”

“Yesterday, he mentioned Alphys thinking him too mellow-hearted to join the Royal Guard, but I think I may have a position he could fill.”  Again, Undyne muttered something that sounded suspicious like ‘ _a position he could fill, huh?_ ’ to Toriel’s untrained ears, but Toriel spoke on before her Royal Scientist could voice her disbelief more audibly: “...But that’s a matter for me and Alphys to discuss.  I’m glad your opinion of Sans the Magnificent is as high as it is, your recommendations will be considered very favorably.  ...Well, I do believe that is all for today, right, Undyne?”

“What?  Uh…”  For a second or two, Undyne was caught off guard, frantically going over the meeting mentally to see whether she’d missed any important points, but when she discovered none, she nodded and bowed lightly.  “...Yeah, that’s all for today.  I’ll see you again in a week, then, queen Toriel?”

“Yes, I’ll see you in a week.”  As Undyne bowed, the door of the small home she occupied opened again and Alphys walked into the hallway: the lizardwoman’s eyes widened as she noticed Undyne’s presence, but apart from a pinkish tinge to her cheeks she showed no other response to her presence.  Undyne, however…

“O-oh!  Uh, h-hello, Al-Alphys… w-what a lovely coincidence!  I r-really… s-see you!!”  In the span of ten seconds, Undyne managed to drop one of her folders, clumsily pick up its contents, walk into the doorframe in an attempt to keep her eyes on Alphys nervously, and then walk into the door itself on her way out.  Toriel couldn’t help but giggle as the scientist was out of earshot, shaking her head and beckoning Alphys into her living room, where she sat in her throne-like armchair.

“Alphys, how great that you could make it on such short notice.”

“Heh, no problem, my queen!”, the dinosaur-monster spoke with a patient grin.  “I got your message and I have to say, I’m…  Sans really came over to the audiences and requested _you_ to make him a member of the Royal Guard?  Heh, he’s got fire, that’s for sure…”

“Yes, well, I do think he might not be unfit… just… well, perhaps the capacity you envision him in is a little too… _harsh_ for him, yes…”, Toriel admitted, and Alphys instantly raised an eyebrow in much the same manner as Undyne had, causing Toriel to smile and add as an afterthought: “You and my Royal Scientist, Alphys, are so very much alike, you could very well share a soul-”

“ _NWAHHH, d-don’t…!_ ”, Alphys instantly retorted, gritting her teeth and nodding the next moment.  “Okay, okay, so what did you have in mind, queen Toriel?”

“...Well…”

 

“HELLO, MY LADY ROYAL GUARD!  QUEEN TORIEL HAS REQUESTED ME TO COME TO THE HALL OF JUDGMENT AT FIVE PM TO HEAR HER DECISION REGARDING MY REQUEST OF YESTERDAY!!”, Sans said happily as he approached the door, seeing the guard close off the door and the last of the day’s supplicants moving back to the capitol proper.  He hadn’t been able to eat or sleep _at all_ the previous evening, going over his meeting with the queen so many times until he knew every word she’d said by heart and until he could _dream_ the looks she’d given him.  So warm, so beautiful…  His soul, too, hadn’t stopped feeling like it had escaped all gravity and was soaring for the heavens.  It was so bad that, when he finally _did_ fall asleep, all he could dream of was the queen and the warmth of her fur under his fingertips… shameful, really…  When the guard nodded, Sans caught himself again and pushed back the thoughts into a safe, remote corner of his mind, focusing instead on wending his way inside once the guard opened the door and walked in before him.  They made their way to the queen, who had decided to wear her full ceremonial garb again: heavy-looking gold-colored pauldrons, dark purple cape, lilac robes underneath of which only the edges showed when she rose as the guard kneeled.

“I, like, brought your visitor, Sans the skeleton from Snowdin, back just like you requested, your Royal Majesty… d’you want me to, like, take him back out in a few minutes?”, she asked; Sans expected the queen to nod and tell the guard to wait at the door, or outside of it, but she shook her head and spoke lightly.

“No, 04, you may head back to 03 and go back to your homes.”

“B-but your Highness…!”, the guard protested, though she then sighed and rose, bowing deeply.  “...Uh, okay, if that’s, like, your command and all…  Your security is my main priority, and stuff...”

“I assure you that Alphys has put someone _highly_ capable on the job instead of you or your colleague.  Enjoy your night.”  The guard nodded and walked back to the doorway, leaving Sans alone in front of the queen.  Once the door fell to a close behind the guard, the thick-set skeleton remembered where he was and who he was in front of: kneeling, he directed his eyes to the ground, but it only took a second before he _had_ to look up at the queen again, seeing her still standing ten feet away from him, holding her staff and looking at him with that kind, warm smile she’d worn so beautifully the previous evening as well.  “...So, Sans the Magnificent, before I tell you what I’ve decided, _you_ must first swear to me, _solemnly and truthfully_ , that you will serve me.”  Without a second thought, Sans placed his right hand over his heart.

“I SWEAR ON MY SOUL, MY GRACIOUS QUEEN, THAT I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, AM YOURS TO COMMAND IN WHATEVER WAY YOU SEE FIT!  AND WHATEVER ASSIGNMENT YOU GIVE ME, I WILL PERFORM TO THE FULLEST OF MY POSSIBILITIES!  PLEASE REST ASSURED THAT I WILL NEITHER REST NOR LET MY GUARD DOWN WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR SECURITY AND WELLBEING!!”, he said, looking the queen in the eye all the while, and she nodded.

“...Very good.  Remember that oath, Sans the Magnificent, and follow it.  I, in turn, swear to you that I will never misuse your service.  I will not ask anything of you that goes against that great big glowing soul of yours.  Your kindness… your warmth… your _love_ …  I have promised Alphys to protect and preserve those, and that is exactly what I will do.  ...Remain kneeled, Sans.”  She raised her staff into the air, the jewel on the end glowing with an inner fire, and Sans looked at the queen in surprise.

“Y-YOUR SPLENDID MAJESTY,  SHOULDN’T…  SHOULDN’T ALPHYS BE HERE AS A WITNESS?”, he asked, prompting her to shake her head.

“Your service to me won’t be under Alphys.”  Sans was curious at that, but the next thing he knew, the Queen touched the top of his skull with her staff and spoke solemnly, cutting off any and all protests he could have wanted to voice.  “...Sans the Magnificent, we, Queen Toriel Dreemurr, have heard your oath of unconditional service to our service, and for that selflessness and dedication, we reward you with the unique and honored position of Royal Companion - a position both outside and above the Royal Guard as headed by Captain Alphys.  A position where you will be required to serve us, your Queen, and us _alone_ , in any capacity we would ask of you.  It is a position that requires extreme discipline and great strength, so that you can combat any threat posed to me, but it also is a position where a good, kind heart is key, because diplomacy and tact, and most of all _discretion_ , are of the essence.  These are characteristics that you, Sans the Magnificent, embody and exemplify, according to my advisors.  ...so, do you accept this position?”

“I ACCEPT THIS POSITION, AND YOUR GENEROSITY, GLADLY, MY QUEEN!!”, Sans admitted, at which point the staff pressed down ever so lightly on the top of his skull before moving on to his left shoulder and then his right shoulder.

“...Then it is so!  Now, Sans, my first assignment for you, my Royal Companion, is to spend your evening and night with me.  Alphys told me you’re quite the good cook - then again, knowing Alphys’ cooking skills, I might have to keep a close eye on you.  She knows how to make _greasy food_ very well-”

“I ASSURE YOU, YOUR HIGHNESS-”, Sans started, only to halt when the queen put a furry hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him benevolently.

“...You may call me ‘Toriel’, Sans.  After all, you are in my inner circle now.”  For a second, Sans was unsure how to answer, but then he nodded and smiled up at her, amending his previous statement.

“I ASSURE YOU, _TORIEL_ , MY TACOS ARE VERY NUTRITIOUS AND LOW ON FAT!  AND I CAN ALSO MAKE PIE!  UNLIKE MY BROTHER, PAPYRUS, WHO FILLS _HIS_ PIES WITH AN EGG-LIKE, NON-SUGARY SUBSTANCE!”  The queen giggled at that and let her hand linger on Sans’ shoulder as she walked ahead of him out a small side door hidden behind a tapestry, leading them through a corridor and into a small home.

“You’ll have to tell me more about yourself and this brother of yours, he sounds quite interesting!”, Toriel admitted, and Sans nodded, feeling more than a little starstruck and out-of-breath - which, considering he was a skeleton and didn’t have lungs at all, was odd but somehow _funny_.

“WORRY NOT, TORIEL!!  THE EVENING IS JUST STARTING, AND I HAVE MANY STORIES ABOUT MYSELF AND MY BROTHER AND OUR FRIENDS THAT WILL SURELY ENTERTAIN YOU!!  AND I’M SURE YOU LIKEWISE HAVE A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT YOURSELF THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH ME!  AFTER ALL…”  Suddenly, Sans felt a little shy, but then he looked up at the queen again.  From his point of view, he couldn’t see her crown anymore, and she looked like any other tall monster in the underground: in need of a friend and with a soul as grand as his own.  “...AFTER ALL, I WISH TO GET TO KNOW THE WOMAN BENEATH THE CROWN…”

“And I the soul beneath the armor.”, the queen answered, blushing lightly in the twilight around them.  Sans grinned at her encouragingly, feeling like the evening would be a very enjoyable one indeed, if he could spend it talking to this woman that had captivated him so completely.

 

“...Ohohoho!  So your brother has quite a big preference for this Miss Muffet’s Café?”, Toriel asked, and Sans nodded, smiling as he elaborated.

“MWEH HEHEHEH, YES, HE DOES, BUT I PAY OFF HIS PASTRIES AND SWEETS FOR HIM.  MISS MUFFET AND I HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT - SHE ACTUALLY IS QUITE KIND-HEARTED FOR A SPIDER THAT THREATENS TO BAKE HER NON-PAYING CUSTOMERS INTO HER PASTRIES…”

“You take _very_ good care of your younger brother, Sans - truly, you _are_ magnificent, as your title proudly proclaims…”, the queen admitted, brushing her hand over his arm again, and Sans blushed softly once more.  He’d had dinner with the queen, who had baked the dessert while he made them tacos, and after that, they’d washed the dirty dishes together and then they’d spent the remainder of the evening sitting in the living room, where Sans had continued telling her about himself, about Papyrus, about Alphys and his training, about his interaction with the various monsters of the underground, getting small anecdotes but also greatly grief-filled mentions of a sorrowful past in return.  Sans found himself unable to look away from the woman, giving her warm and consoling but appropriately distant pats on the hand; each time he looked at her, he felt lighter and lighter, until even the lightest flutter of her eyelashes made his spirits soar.  But he kept reminding himself that there was supposed to be a distance between them, no matter how much he loved the queen - because he loved her, a fact of which he was convinced more and more with each passing second.  And she, probably by accident more than anything, kept encouraging him very implicitly to… _overstep his boundaries_ … but he could never do that!  The mere thought was… well, alluring as it was to imagine himself in the queen’s strong yet gentle embrace, he couldn’t.  He’d sworn to her to be discreet and disciplined, after all!

“Q-QUEEN- I MEAN, UHM, TORIEL… IT’S ALREADY LATE, MAYBE I SHOULD… H-HEAD BACK?”, he tried, and to his shock, the queen nodded, though she didn’t answer the way he’d expected.

“Sans, I… didn’t I mention you’d be staying _here_ tonight?”, she said kindly, with a wink at him that made him feel oddly elated for a reason he didn’t understand; Sans only realized he had to have looked at her in slight apprehension when she put a hand on his shoulder - the warmth of her fingerpads radiated even through his pauldrons, causing him to smile at her weakly even as he spoke.

“STAY HERE?  M-MWEH HEH… H-HEH...  YOU MEAN… TO GUARD YOU?  W-WITH MY LIFE, QUEEN TORIEL!!  YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SLEEP SOUNDLY TONIGHT!!”

“Oh, I believe that I will, indeed!  ...Now, Sans… I expect you to keep your eye on me _all night_ , do you think you can handle that?”, she asked with a smile, showing she already knew his answer - that didn’t stop him from speaking proudly and confidently.

“I CAN HANDLE THAT, MY QUEEN!  I MEAN, TORIEL!”, he amended when the queen fixed him with a look that held the middle between the kind of look Papyrus always gave him and the look he’d seen his brother give his hidden stash of hard candy whenever he thought he wasn’t looking.

“Good, good…”, the queen said, getting up from the comfort of her armchair, leaving Sans to scramble to his feet as well.  She yawned and stretched, pulling her lilac robes a little tighter around her chest, and Sans got a sudden and very constricting feeling inside his ribcage, warmth flashing throughout his skeletal form.  Willing his soul, which had used the opportunity to act up again, back to calmth, he missed the queen’s next words completely.

“I… S-SORRY, TORIEL, I… C-COULD YOU REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID?”

“Heh… I said it’s a good thing you’re so _confident_ in your skills, because you’re about to demonstrate them.  I do believe talking with you has tired me…  Now come on, my brave Royal Companion - or do you plan to guard me in my sleep from all the way over here?”, she said jokingly, prompting Sans to shake his head and follow the queen to the hallway opposite her living room in her quaint little ‘castle’.  In there, they bypassed the first door and headed straight for the second one, situated in the middle of the hallway and flanked on either side by large potted plants.  “...Come on inside…”, the queen offered, extending her hand to him: Sans’ soul felt like it was twisting inside of his chest, conjuring a self-sustaining tornado like the one he’d once found in his brother’s room, consisting of empty jars of honey and taco shells.  Knowing he was getting into a dangerous territory, Sans shook his head.

“H-HOW CAN I GUARD YO-YOU PROPERLY W-WHEN I AM IN THERE?  N-NO, I HAVE TO… S-STAY OUT HERE… S-SO I CAN KEEP WATCH OVER THE CORRIDOR!!”

“But what if something happens _in here_ ?”, Toriel asked, and Sans couldn’t fault that logic.  Unless he had ways of watching both the queen’s chambers _and_ the hallway… then, looking down the hallway, he got a brilliant bout of inspiration.

“QUEEN TORIEL, CAN I MAYBE… MOVE ONE OF YOUR MIRRORS SO IT REFLECTS INTO YOUR ROOM?  THAT WAY, I CAN STAND IN THE CORRIDOR AND STILL KEEP WATCH OVER YOU INSIDE YOUR ROOM!!  A MOST ELEGANT SOLUTION, NO?”, he said proudly, prompting the queen to nod.

“Why, yes… go ahead, Sans - and may I again say that you truly deserve the title you have bestowed upon yourself?  You really are magnificent.”

“WHY, THANK YOU, MY-  I MEAN, TORIEL!!  YOUR PRAISE MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!”, Sans admitted, hurriedly inspecting the queen’s chambers before walking down the hall to remove one long mirror from the wall near the third door of the castle, which appeared to be shut tightly with a notice put up that the room was ‘under renovations’ - Sans neither noticed nor cared about it much, focused as he was on doing his job well.  And, if he was honest, focused as he was on _impressing queen Toriel_ .  The goat-like monster-lady was making him feel more and more enamored with her every passing second: her soft laughter was like music to his ears, her gentle looks were making his head spin, and every time she brushed his arm, his hand… even sometimes his cheek…  It was like the finest, most delicate kind of magic provoking him into matching it with his own soul-fuelled essence… but he couldn’t.  That would be… _improper_ , after all.  Not to mention embarrassing, and _lewd_ .  And if there was anything the magnificent Sans was _not_ …  No, if there was anything _queen Toriel_ was _not_ , it was _lewd_!  “I HAVE INSTALLED THE MIRROR!!  YOU CAN REST ASSURED, TORIEL, I WILL KEEP CLOSE WATCH ON YOU FROM RIGHT OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR!!”, Sans admitted proudly, adjusting his scarf after he’d set up the mirror, stepping back to his spot right outside the queen’s doorway, grinning proudly when she answered.

“I do feel safe with such a fine and attentive Royal Companion watching over me, Sans.”  Sans looked down both sides of the hallway, seeing nothing, and then focused again on the dimly lit room of the queen.  His eyes scanned the interior - the queen-sized bed, the desk with the journal laying on it, the many books in her bookcase, the least hint of the edge of a clothes drawer off on the side where Queen Toriel was…  A room that was simple in decorations, showing the humility of the queen occupying it, he mused with a proud grin.  Truly Queen Toriel was a monster with a magnificence that matched his own!!

He looked again through the corridor, musing that the queen lived very modestly.  There was very little splendor in her ‘palace’: no gold trimmings around the doors, no plush carpets in the hallways, nothing to show that this house did _not_ in fact belong to any ordinary monster.  It suited her character very well: she was homely, warm-hearted, and just a little insecure about herself, which had led Sans to compliment her as often as he could just to improve her mood.  And, he admitted readily, to see her smile and hear her laughter… and feel the soft touch of her hand again on his bare arms…  Sighing, he turned his attention away from such unnecessary (though pleasant) thoughts and back onto the matter at hand, glancing in the mirror again to check on the queen, and-

“O-OH!”  Instantly, his cheeks flushed a bright, almost neon blue.  The queen stood in front of her bed, straightening her bedsheets and paying no attention to him at the moment, and she was wearing… well, if she still _wore_ underwear at all, it was very cunningly hidden underneath the soft downy fur of her body - and he was _very certain_ she didn’t wear a nightie because he could see her breasts, fur-free and luscious.  Sans’ eyes couldn’t tear away from her: the curve of her hips, her shapely legs, her firmly rounded bottom, the slightest sign of a pudgy stomach, her bosom… he tried to do the right thing and avert his eyes, but he couldn’t manage - and maybe he didn’t really _want to_ look away either, he realized, maybe he _really, really wanted to see her_ , because just seeing her in his thoughts was nothing, _nothing_ , compared to this…

“Sans?”  The queen’s voice startled him out of his thoughts again: looking at her, he saw her eyes fixed on the mirror, fixed on _him_ , and an amused smile gracing her features.  Instantly, he straightened his posture again and looked right at the wall.

“Q-QUEEN TORIEL!!  I SWEAR I W-WASN’T LO-LOOKING!!  A-A-AND I WA-WASN’T-”

“Sans-”, the queen tried, her voice holding a lilt of laughter held back, but the short skeletal monster was oblivious to that, focused as he was on the _huge_ breach of protocol and decency he’d just committed to the _queen of all monsters_.

“I WASN’T THI-THINKING A-ANYTHING… L-LEWD… ABOUT YOU, M-MY QUEEN…”  Eyes closing and head drooping, he whimpered miserably, and the next thing he knew, soft, furry hands grabbed hold of his cheeks.

“ _Sans_.”  Opening his eyes again, he saw the queen sitting in front of him in all her unclothed, pale-furred glory, looking at him kindly and… with that same odd glowing look she’d given him before, part endearment and part hunger.

“T-TORIEL?”, he spoke, eyes wide, feeling like he’d just been set on fire.

“...Sans, I… you didn’t see anything I don’t _want_ you to see.”  It took a while for the meaning of those words to sink in - a _long_ while, but that could just be his own distorted imagination of it, Sans mused, because with Toriel so close and so… _uncovered_ … there was no trusting his mental faculties.  But when Sans finally realized what she meant, he gasped and looked her over.

“Q-QUEEN TORIEL, YOU MEAN… Y-YOU MEAN YOU… _W-WANT_ ME TO S-SEE YOU… _LIKE THIS_?!”

“Yes, Sans, I do want that.  And I think _you_ want that, too…”, she said lightly, running one of her hands from his cheek to his jaw, and then lightly tracing the vertebrae of his neck down to his shoulder, eliciting shivers from him with every lightest scrape of her nails over his bared bones, while he contemplated his choices.  He couldn’t deny that he kind of liked looking at her, but could he really tell her that?  Wasn’t he supposed to lie just to preserve her… her _decency_ and _status_?

“I… TO-TORIEL…”

“There’s no use denying it, Sans… _your chest is glowing like a lightbulb_ …”, Toriel whispered seductively, and only now did he notice that the fire he’d felt spreading throughout him wasn’t just metaphorical: the entire hallway was illuminated by his soul-fuelled magic swirling in his chest and dancing underneath his ‘battle body’.  “Souls don’t lie, my _magnificent_ Sans… you like what you see, don’t you?”

“Y-YES, YOU ARE…  U-UHM, YOU ARE M-MOST BEAUTIFUL, TORIEL, BUT-”

“Would you like to… see _more_ of me?   _All_ of me?  Maybe not just… _see_ me, but… _touch_ me too?”, she asked, promoting a yelp from Sans.

“M-MWEH!  U-UHM… I… I… B-BUT YOU ARE THE QUEEN!!  I-IT ISN’T RIGHT!  IT’S N-NOT PROPER!!”, he stammered, looking away in embarrassment and speaking softly to himself: “Y-YOU ARE MAKING ME FEEL THINGS THAT ARE VERY… WARM AND PLEASANT AND CERTAINLY WORTH E-EXPLORING FURTHER, BUT… I-IF ONLY IT WAS POSSIBLE-”

“Sans, why wouldn’t it be possible?  Why would my being Queen have any effect on who I choose to give myself to?”, Toriel asked - Sans couldn’t help but yelp again, his mind reeling from the implications of her words, chosen carefully but spoken boldly.

“MWEHH!!  Y-YOUR-  I MEAN, TORIEL!  I… A-ARE YOU… YOU… W-WANT ME T-TO…”

“Sans.”, the female monster said, leaning close enough to him that he could feel her breath as she spoke, tickling his teeth and making them itch, causing him to long for… something he didn’t quite understand.  “...I see I have to be a little bolder with you.  I… it’s been very, very long since I felt any kind of… _love_ such as I’m feeling now, for you.  When you walked into my throne room and kneeled before me, such a perfect though short knight… my heart skipped a beat.  Sans the Magnificent, boldly come to request a favor of his queen and doing so with charm and determination!  Sans the skeleton, looking at his queen like she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on-”

“YOU _ARE_ THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I EVER LAID EYES ON, TORIEL!” , Sans admitted - he would’ve said more if it weren’t for the fact that the queen kissed him passionately, and just like that the unknown and slightly anxious feeling in his chest lifted to be replaced by something… ravenous, and hot, and… _lewd_ .   _Very, very lewd_ , in fact, because suddenly he very much wanted to take up the queen’s previous offers of seeing all of her and maybe not just _seeing_ more of her but also _touching_ all of her.  However, his initial instinct was to fight the feeling back.   “QUEEN TORIEL… N-NO, _TORIEL_ … I HAVE TO SAY, WHEN I FIRST LAID EYES ON YOU, MY HEART… WELL, THAT IS TO SAY, MY _SOUL_ …  B-BEHAVED VERY ERRATICALLY!!  B-BUT I CAN… I CAN… I CAN K-KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL!!  I W-WON’T BE THAT… L-LEWD!!”

“Sans, what if I… _permit_ you to be… lewd?”, the queen said lightly, and all of a sudden it was like Sans’ world had ground to a halt.  Was the queen saying what he thought she was saying?

“Q-QUEEN TORIEL?!”

“I am a queen, yes, but tonight… here, with you… I’d like to be _just Toriel_ .  I’d like to be just a woman, Sans.  I’d like to be _just yours, and nothing more_ for the duration of this evening.  When I first looked into your eyes, I could tell you feel the same way about me as I feel about you…”  She kissed him again, a little more sweetly and enticingly this time - a kiss like the kisses he’d heard other monsters talking about, he thought in some far-off recess of his mind, a kiss to stop his heart - and then, she spoke in a whisper that heated his soul even more: “...I think I fell in love with you, oh magnificent Sans…”

“I… T-THINK… I MAY BE IN L-LOVE WITH YOU, TOO, T-T-TORIEL… A-AND I WOULD LOVE TO… K-KISS YOU SOME MORE… P-PERHAPS E-EVEN… PASSIONATELY…”, Sans answered with no small amount of nervous tension coursing through him in tandem with the heat from his soul, and Toriel nodded, her eyes having a kind of fire in them that made Sans feel like the burning of his soul was nothing compared to the fire he was yet to feel at her hands.  Smiling, she pulled him upright and then gently led him into her room, sitting down on her bed and then motioning for him to sit down as well.

“...Then, my dearest Sans, you have my permission to kiss me passionately.  As a matter of fact, I think I must _insist_ that you kiss me passionately - I think your duties as Royal Companion _demand_ it…”, she said lightly, but even if she hadn’t spoken of it being his duty, he would’ve complied, Sans thought while leaning in closer to Toriel again to kiss her; she pressed her lips against his teeth so tightly that it felt like she wanted to press _into_ him, something he wasn’t all that apprehensive about anymore.  It reminded him somewhat of something he’d once seen over at Alphys’, even…  Alphys had said that it was ‘research’ into ‘human anatomy’ and ‘human psychology’, but she’d been blushing and breathing hard all throughout, and the humans on the screen hadn’t been wearing any kind of armor.  Or any kind of clothing, for that matter, though you could never be too sure with humans.  But they were… doing things, like _kissing passionately_ , and they seemed to enjoy themselves, so… maybe he could try something like that with Toriel, who was tracing her hands over his battle body idly now…  He concentrated some of the magic, which was plentiful due to the way the queen’s proximity and the warmth of her body were making him feel, into forming a tongue in his mouth, after which he parted his teeth and gently traced the newly-formed appendage over Toriel’s lips, prompting a surprised gasp from her.

“S-sans…”

“I…  S-SAW THIS I-IN A… M-MOVIE ALPHYS HAS…  IT L-LOOKED RA-RATHER NICE THERE…  IS IT… B-BAD?”, he asked, only for the female monster to shake her head and pull him into her lap as she sat back, kissing him again and allowing her own tongue, which felt _wet and warm_ , to slowly rub against his own magical one.  Instantly, Sans stiffened in her hold, and then he shivered despite himself.  He hadn’t bargained on the way it’d feel to _touch her tongue with his_ !  His magic was sensitive - which was only natural because it was an extension of his very soul - but he had never explored just _how_ sensitive it would be.  All he knew was what Papyrus had once told him after he’d smoked one of his ‘herb cigarettes’: that he should be careful and that it was very, very lewd and pleasurable to use his magic for anything other than attacks.  “M-MMHHH…”, he groaned into their kiss, his arms wrapping tightly around Toriel’s shoulders because he felt like he could faint and fall away from her, which was the last thing he wanted - and apparently, groaning happily and grabbing hold of her was exactly what the larger furry monster had wanted him to do, because she detached from him,a thin line of saliva between her lips and his tongue, and moaned as well.

“Oh, _Sans_ , you feel so very, very nice… please, don’t hesitate… _touch_ me, h-however… and _wherever_ you want…”  Thinking back to the movie Alphys hadn’t known he’d seen, Sans did remember something about the people in it running their hands all over each other’s bodies… and Toriel’s insistent caresses of his neck vertebrae and his scapulae, first through his battle body and then directly as she lifted his shirt and armor off him, felt _very good indeed_ , so the skeleton supposed it was only natural that he should touch the woman that was very quickly sending his head up in the clouds.  Kissing her again - because that felt too wonderful not to indulge in - Sans’ bony fingers first lightly caressed the fur of Toriel’s neck before moving on to her shoulders and then her arms.  The resulting light groan he harvested was all the incentive he needed to continue: after pressing his fingers a little more insistently into her fur, feeling the light shivers running through her muscles, he moved his hands instead to her waist, slowly trailing up.  His magic was coursing over the surface of his bones, making him feel the tickling of her downy body hair against them, but when he felt the hair grow more sparse, and after that disappeared altogether in favor of the warm, supple skin of her breasts, he sighed happily into their continued kiss, breaking it a second later.

“T-TORIEL… I… M-MAY I-”

“Yes, Sans, _please do…_ ”, came the instantaneous answer, and Sans didn’t need that repeated: his first touches of her bosom were light and exploratory, but Toriel very surreptitiously pressed into his hands and he figured she liked him being a little bolder.  A light squeeze of her right breast had the goat-monster squeal lightly into their kiss, and another, more firm squeeze had her break their kiss altogether to gasp.  “ _Oh y-yes… mmm, Sans…_ ”

“T-TORIEL… Y-YOU SOUND VERY… A-ALLURING WHEN YOU… M-MOAN LIKE THAT…”, Sans admitted, allowing his fingers to drag over Toriel’s other breast and then idly, without fully realizing it, lazily circling her nipple with the tip of one of his digits.

“Mmmnnnh… S-sans… oh, my _magnificent Sans…_ y-you’ll hear me moan like that a l-lot more… ahhh, yes, y-you’re so _good_ to me…”, she breathed out in response to his previous statement, and Sans grinned proudly.

“I LIVE TO SERVE YOU, TORIEL… A-ANY WAY YOU WISH ME TO…”

“Oh… ohh, Sans, m-maybe you should… p-put your mouth to use… _elsewhere…_ ”, Toriel suggested very lightly, though her voice was anything but light what with her panting breaths and the strong pulsations of magic from her chest, making her fur shimmer all the more.  After an initial blink of confusion, Sans remembered that the people he’d seen in that film of Alphys’ hadn’t just kissed: their mouths had wandered as well, to the female human’s chest and to the place where her legs met.  And since that film’s instructions hadn’t led him astray yet…  He kissed away from Toriel’s lips, first to her cheek, then to nip at her neck very gently - and, driven by a strong impulse, allowing his magic-fuelled tongue to lave over the spots where he pressed his lips as well, causing a very _strong_ and _heated_ reaction from the queen.  Her body shook _visibly_ now, shivers running up and down her body: Sans’ position in her lap meant that he felt _every one of those_ , and they seemed to transmit to his own body as well, only ten times as violent…  Slowly, Sans kissed down to her shoulder, and then his lips quickly moved to the fur-free expanse of her chest, first lightly kissing the space between her breasts before kissing his way over to her right breast, allowing his teeth to brush over the skin there before allowing his tongue passage once again.  He could taste sweat on her skin, along with something sweet and slightly heavy - like cream, but… _different_ \- and he felt… the texture of her skin felt like it was designed to send his already dizzy senses whirling in his head.

“TORIEL… MMMH, YOU ARE… SO BEAUTIFUL, SO… SO PERFECT…”, he admitted again, laving the magical appendage over Toriel’s nipple and feeling rather than hearing her resulting moan: the sharp inhale and the shaky vibration of her chest under his bony hands were both more than clear enough.  “Y-YOU ARE ALL A MONSTER COULD DREAM OF… YOU ARE ALL I WOULD EVER NEED…”

“ _Sans,_ that’s… mmm, s-so romantic of you… ahhh, my dearest…!”, she gasped out, shuddering when Sans continued to kiss and graze his teeth all over her breast.  The skeleton couldn’t help but shudder as well and groan lightly: the sounds that Toriel made, along with the feeling of her large, warm, furry body against his bones and his tongue… he had never felt anything like the warmth that seemed to glow and grow around him, burning like fire and making magic bleed from him with an ease that seemed sinful and right at the same time.

“OH, TORIEL… THE WAY YOU SAY MY NAME IS… IS…”  Just what it was, he couldn’t say: the queen chose that moment to gently lay back onto the bed, leaving him sitting on her thighs and looking her over as she looked back up at him with half-lidded eyes.

“ _S-sans…_ I think… I think it’s time for you to _go lower_ …”, she said, and Sans nodded.  That, too, he’d seen in that movie Alphys had been watching.  Trailing his hands reluctantly away from her bosom, he lightly threaded the full fur of her stomach through his bony fingers, moving his hands to her hips.  He felt a constricted feeling in his chest as he looked the queen over, feeling rather than seeing the waves of lavender energy that shimmered just above the surface of her white-furred limbs and torso and that shone in the depths of her gaze.  “...Y-you’re doing so well, Sans, my magnificent Sans… _mmm, my love_ …”, Toriel whispered, and Sans pressed his teeth to her stomach in a soft, gentle kiss.  As lewd as this situation was to him, he couldn’t deny that hearing a fine, beautiful and charming woman such as Toriel calling him her love was enough to make any monster, even one as magnificent as himself, overflow with joy and love to match hers.

“TORIEL, Y-YOU ARE THE SWEETEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN… A-AND TO CALL YOU MY LOVE WOULD BE… T-TOO SIMPLE!  YOU… ARE MORE!!  NNNH… Y-YOU… TORIEL, MAY I… C-CALL YOU MY SOULMATE?”

“Y-yes… oh, yes, th-that… that sounds _perfect_ , Sans…”, Toriel admitted, gently pulling him off her thighs and next to her, a little higher so they could kiss with equal measures of passion and tenderness, parting only when Sans’ fingers resumed their idle caresses of her stomach and she started kissing his jawbone and then his clavicle.  That got _Sans_ to moan.

“ _A-AHH, T-TORIEL…_ THAT F-FEELS… VERY… N-NIIIIICE- _NNNNNH…!_ ”  She smiled at him heatedly before kissing towards his sternum, and Sans could feel his magic reach out to her.  How could something so… _lewd_ … feel so _good and right_ , he pondered - right before Toriel parted her lips and let the tip of her tongue daintily smooth over his clavicle, which resulted in Sans’ hand slipping off her hip and his entire body to feel like it seized up.   “ _AHHH!!  T-TORIEL…_ THAT WAS… OHH, W-WOWIE… THAT…”

“That was what it felt like for me, Sans, when you kissed me and used that tongue of yours on me before…”, Toriel answered, prompting a broad grin from the skeleton.  If it felt that good for her, he’d make her feel that good again.

“I AIM… T-TO PLEASE YOU, TORIEL!!  I AM YOUR SERVANT IN ANY WAY!”

“Well, my magnificent Sans, how about… continuing your caresses?”, the queen said with a mirthful kind of heat that had Sans nodding and gently moving his fingers, but this time he felt very little fur against his digits.  Instead, he felt… a warmth and wetness meet his bony fingertips.  Slightly startled, he looked Toriel in the eyes, finding her looking back at him with an eager look.  “D-don’t stop…”

“TORIEL, I-IS IT S-SUPPOSED TO…?!”, Sans started, only for the woman to nod.

“Y-yes… oh, _yes_ , Sans, i-it’s… because you _excite_ me _so much…!_ ”

“YOU EXCITE ME, TOO, TORIEL!!  I… W-WANT SO MUCH… I WANT TO… D-DO ANYTHING FOR YOU… E-EVEN… EVEN _LEWD THINGS…_!”

“Oh, _Sans_ , d-don’t call them ‘lewd’... it’s _okay_ to do things like this, after all…”  She looked down at Sans warmly - or, well, heatedly, but to Sans every kind of look blended into the growing heat that seeped through his body in tandem with his magic and hers.  “...I _want_ you to touch me - my breasts, my nethers, _my very soul_ … because I love you and I _want_ to give myself to you, body and soul.  And… I hope - no, I _know_ , oh my magnificent, amazing Sans, my _beloved_ , that… that you want to give all of yourself to me in turn… mmm… y-your soul is trying _so hard_ to fly r-right into my hand, dearest…  But we must… _wait_ \- just a little bit w-with touching one another’s souls.  G-good things come t-to those who _wait_ …”

“MWEH… B-BUT…”  Sans meant to say that he didn’t want to wait anymore, that he wanted her so much, so badly, _so shamefully lewdly_ , but then Toriel canted her hips just a little into his touch and he felt his fingers, still slick from his previous caresses, slide over her bare skin.

“ _O-ohh… oh m-my, Sans…_ ”, she gasped out, and the sound of her voice was enough for Sans to push all superfluous thoughts and hesitance aside in favor of prompting more of the breathless sounds from her.  His fingers, inexperienced though they were with the intiricacies of her folds, pressed a little more boldly into her warm flesh, rewarding him with a breathless moan of his name; when he moved lower, his fingers managed to work their way _inside_ of the goat-monster, and she groaned happily as he gently rubbed the soft, velvety-smooth insides of her, coating his fingers with a transparent and slick substance that was probably meant to entice him and that served its purpose wonderfully.

“AHH, T-TORIEL, I… C-CAN I… TRY SOMETHING ELSE FROM...  F-FROM… _MWEH_ , CAN I-” , he tried helplessly, and Toriel cut him off with a whimper and a fierce nod, prompting Sans to push the rest of his garmets off and once again concentrate his magic, this time forming a very different kind of appendage on his skeletal body - not soft and pliable like his tongue, but rigid and firm and shaped a little like a jointless, overlarge finger just as he’d seen it on Alphys’ video.  In that… _strangely educational_ film, the female humans has made sounds much like the ones Toriel was now making, and so far the queen had enjoyed everything he’d tried to mimic from the movies, so he could only hope she’d like this last bold move.  He moved so the appendage pressed against his lover’s genitalia and pushed gently, feeling it slip slowly inside of her just like his fingers had.

“Ahh, Sans, _y-yes…_ ”, Toriel moaned lightly, but Sans barely heard her over the sound of his soul fluttering wildly in his chest.  If the sensation of kissing Toriel and running his tongue all over hers had been a great one, this new feeling of _pushing into her_ with his solidified magic was _heaven_ , pure and simple.  Every last fraction of an inch that he pushed deeper into her opened up the gates to rapture in his soul and let out streams of a fire the likes of which the short skeleton hadn’t experienced in his entire life.

“ _N-NNNGH… AHH, T-TORIEL… THIS… OHH, THIS IS…_ N-NWEH!!”  His heated words ended with a sharp yelp as Toriel wrapped her strong, fur-covered legs around his waist, her knees rubbing the underside of his ribs and adding to the sensation.   “Y-YOU FEEL… GREAT… _W-WONDERFUL… OH, WOWIE, G-GOODNESS…  NNNNNGH-_ ”

“S-sans… oh, you’re just… mmmm…”, Toriel groaned out, looking down at him and very gently pushing at his pelvis with one of her dainty feet, reminding the slight knight that he needed to stick to the plan, which meant moving.  Now that he knew how pleasurable it was to feel her body surrounding and gently squeezing his magic, he was better prepared for it, and when he pulled back and then slowly pushed back deeper into her, the slick slide of his newly-formed appendage into her nethers did not prompt him to shudder quite as much, though the pleasure remained as a thick, hot blanket over his mind.  His soul still fluttered wildly, especially against his sternum, reaching out to Toriel’s soul to touch and melt together by its basic instinct - and now, with his magic filling her up, that beautiful soul of hers was pushing outward, slowly pressing through her fur and her warm body to meet his hand.  “S-sans, I-”  He knew what she meant to say and, nodding,  picked up the pace a little with the movements of his pelvis.  Every thrust of his sent shivers up and down his spine, and it had a similar effect on her, while their souls pushed a little harder.

“ _TORIEL… I…_ P-PLEASE ALLOW ME…”

“I am yours, Sans, _I am yours…!_ ”, Toriel answered in a somewhat squeaky voice; Sans leaned lower over her, feeling his own soul slowly push through his sternum and ribs until it floated in front of him.  He had to genuinely struggle to keep his magic solid inside of Toriel, what with his hips moving out of their own accord and his soul _aching_ for the touch of her magic, of _her soul_ , which was now close enough to his for him to see the light lilac glow around it, like a fountain of sparkles dancing just below its surface…  “C-come with me, Sans…!”, Toriel gasped out, and that was all the incentive Sans needed to: groaning and panting, he sped up one last time, his hips colliding with Toriel’s _hard_ , and his soul and hers swirled around one another, wrapping ethereal waves of magic around the two monsters before colliding and creating a bright flash of light and energy.  Sans could feel, somewhat detachedly, his toes curling and his spine arching, but that didn’t matter nearly as much as the _howl_ of delight that slipped past Toriel’s lips, since it echoed his own rhapsodic abandon in the moment.  It felt like it lasted forever, just him and her, just two monsters whose souls were briefly united and whose bodies were coupled like pieces of a puzzle, fitting perfectly together.  Of course, however, the moment broke and he felt his magic fizzle away again from his hold, though a sparkle of it remained as he looked into the big, brown, warm eyes of the queen, who sat up again in her bed.  The enormity of what had happened - of _what they both had done_ \- pressed down onto him, but before he could act upon his sudden sense of shame...

“...oh…  Oh, Sans, my dearest, my magnificent knight…”, Toriel whispered breathlessly in the quiet that filled the room, and the skeletal warrior looked at her again to find a faint blush coloring her fuzzy cheeks and muzzle.  “...You’ve… you’ve made this old woman feel young and alive again…  Don’t go away from me…”

“TORIEL… I.. WON’T GO AWAY.  N-NOT TONIGHT, AT LEAST.”, he said, hesitating when Toriel patted the bed beside her but then crawling over to her anyway and getting instantly rewarded by her wrapping a large, strong arm around his shoulders to hold him close.  It was a tender gesture that segued in perfectly with her adoring words, heated and lewd though they were, of before.

“...And tomorrow night.  You _must_ return here tomorrow night, too.  After all, it would be a shame if we gave 04 a night off and didn’t offer the same privilege to 03, right?”, she said with a wink at him, which had him grinning and nodding.

“YOUR WISH, MY QUEEN, IS MY COMMAND!  I WILL BE HERE AGAIN TOMORROW NIGHT AS WELL!  B-BUT AFTER THAT… W-WELL, I… MY BROTHER, PAPYRUS…”, he said, half-expecting the queen to be angry or even suspect him of not fulfilling his duties, but to his utter surprise, she nodded with an equally mournful sigh.

“Yes.  You… you should head back to your home.  But, my dearest Sans the Magnificent, I… I would like to tell you what the remainder of your duties as Royal Companion will entail…”, she said; Sans sat up in the bed, eagerly listening, prompting Toriel to turn to him, propping herself up on one elbow and allowing her free hand to wrap around his hips very loosely.  “...I want you to go back to Snowdin and continue with everything as you have before.  Your deputy duties for the Dog Pack, your training under Alphys, your care for your brother and for the people around you… but once a week, _at least_ , you are due back here to… report to me.  I want you to tell me all about the people you meet, the things that are happening in Waterfall, Hotland and Snowdin.  You, my magnificent Sans, will be my eyes and ears on this world while I sit safely here, in the capitol, and deal with the issues that both you and the people that request an audience bring to my attention.”  Sans thought about that for a second and then nodded, smiling brightly.

“A WISE AND GRACIOUS TASK FROM MY MOST BEAUTIFUL QUEEN AND SOULMATE… I WILL DO JUST THAT, TORIEL!  THE MAGNIFICENT SANS WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!!”  His enthusiasm met with a soft giggle from Toriel, who lay back down and pulled him closer again, nuzzling his cheek and brushing her soft fur against his entire chest.  Sans automatically put his arms around her form, his toes somewhat awkwardly brushing her thighs, and nuzzled her cheek in turn, feeling his soul flutter again but gently so - not hot and needy like before, but lightly and dizzyingly, as it has when he’d first seen the queen.

“...You haven’t let me down in any way yet, my love, and I don’t think you ever will…”, Toriel admitted, prompting a soft ‘mweh’ from the skeletal knight and a light, loving squeeze from him.  “...Stay here now, Sans.  I’m sure that, whatever threat meets us… you can deal with it _in here_ just as well as _out there_ …”

“I… I WOULDN’T DREAM OF LEAVING YOUR EMBRACE, TORIEL…”, Sans admitted, keeping a loose though close hold on her, and Toriel exhaled a happy sigh, closing her eyes.  She fell asleep rapidly to the sound of the fluttering soul of her new Royal Companion, unburdened by any guilt or grief for the first time in what felt like a long time; and Sans, overjoyed with his new position and still reeling from his first night with another monster, followed her all too happily.

 

“BROTHER!!  PAPYRUS, WHERE ARE YOU?!”  Papyrus looked up at the sound of Sans’ voice, waving idly from the sofa.  He was very thankful his brother had taken his sweet time coming home, because he’d been smoking a little and his high had only left him an hour ago, after he’d basically emptied the fridge and ate the last of the leftovers of the dinner he and Undyne had cooked together the previous night.  The Royal Scientist had been… oddly _shy_ around him, too, come to think of it, but now, the more pressing matter on his mind was Sans’ return.

“here, bro.  so, how was ntt resort?  saw napstaton perform live?”

“I DID, AND HE WAS PHENOMENAL AS ALWAYS.  MY FAVORITE GEOMETRICALLY PLEASING MUSICBOT.  BUT!  I HAVE OTHER, DIFFERENT NEWS I WISH TO SHARE WITH YOU!!”  Sans walked up to him and sat on the couch - and instantly, Papyrus could tell that his brother was feeling _much, much_ better from the glow in his eyes and the renewed energy in his voice and gestures as he spoke.  “WHILE I WAS AT THE CAPITOL, THE QUEEN STARTED HOLDING AUDITIONS AGAIN, AND I… REQUESTED ONE.”

“heh, wow, so ya saw queen toriel, huh?  is she as sweet and motherly as everyone claims she is?”

“OH, MUCH MORE!  SHE IS… BEAUTIFUL, AND WISE, AND… V-VERY WARM-HEARTED!!”  Now Papyrus genuinely blinked and looked his brother over.  That little waver in his voice… he had to have imagined that, right?  That little hesitation as he considered his words?  “...PAPYRUS, PLEASE DO NOT SPACE OUT ON ME!!”, Sans said loudly and somewhat annoyedly, and Papyrus relaxed again.

“uh, sorry, bro… go on.”

“SO I REQUESTED AN AUDITION WITH THE QUEEN AND ASKED HER IF SHE COULD MAKE ME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD-”

“only _alphys_ can initiate people, sans, that’s why you’ve been training with her-”

“YES, IN RETROSPECT I DO KNOW THAT, BUT… WELL, THE QUEEN HAS… SEEN MY MERITS AND MY MAGNIFICENCE AND SHE… G-GAVE ME THE HIGHLY IMPORTANT AND MOST DIGNIFIED POSITION OF ROYAL COMPANION!!”

“wait… royal companion?”  Papyrus sat up a little straighter, looking his brother over and now noticing the faint light blue blush over his cheekbones.  “...you makin’ this up, bro?  i’ve never heard of that job in the royal guard-”

“MWEH, IT ISN’T A JOB IN THE ROYAL GUARD - LIKE YOU SAID, ONLY ALPHYS CAN INITIATE PEOPLE INTO THAT, AND SHE STILL DOES NOT BELIEVE I HAVE THE EMOTIONAL STRENGTH TO DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.  BUT QUEEN TORIEL… W-WELL…”

“what’s a royal companion even _do_ , huh?  sit next to the queen and look pretty?”, Papyrus asked teasingly, slightly shocked that his brother’s blush spread further and darkened just a shade.  Mentally, he groaned - Sans really was innocent and sweet at heart, not to mention extremely dedicated to his ‘near-job’ and the kingdom, and the queen was… the queen.  If she asked him something he would normally never do, he probably wouldn’t refuse because it was the queen that asked it…  “...what’s the job entail, bro?”, he asked carefully, and now Sans got genuinely excited, showing Papyrus that, whatever the job meant at heart, his brother at least had no personal qualms doing it.

“I MUST GO ABOUT MY DAILY BUSINESS OF PATROLLING THE FOREST, TRAINING WITH ALPHYS IN THE EVENINGS, AND BEING MY MAGNIFICENT SELF!!  BUT NOW, ONCE A WEEK, I MUST GO TO THE CAPITOL AND REPORT TO QUEEN TORIEL ABOUT WHAT I HAVE SEEN AND NOTICED IN THE REGIONS OF OUR BEAUTIFUL UNDERGROUND, TO INFORM HER OF DAILY LIFE AMONG THE REGULAR MONSTERS!  IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT, EVEN _VITAL_ ASSIGNMENT!!”  Papyrus chuckled - it sounded very much made up, and the queen probably had given him the position out of pity more than anything else…   “M-MWEH H-HEH… BUT THE TRIP TO THE CAPITOL IS A LONG ONE, S-SO I WILL HAVE TO STAY THE NIGHT A-AT THE PALACE WHEN I MAKE MY REPORT!!”  ...or maybe it hadn’t been _pity_ that motivated the queen.  Sans’ blush was now so clear and luminescent that it lit up the dusky confines of their living room, and Papyrus suddenly had the vivid impression that his cape gave off a faint smell of cinnamon, which the queen was said to be very fond of...

“...sans?  you… if being the royal companion meant doing things you… don’t feel comfortable doin’ for anyone… you’d say no to the queen, even if she _is_ the _queen_ , right?”  Instantly, Sans’ spine straightened, and he rounded on Papyrus with a look of indignant rage that had Papyrus oddly relax again.

“I HOPE YOU’RE NOT INSINUATING THAT QUEEN TORIEL WOULD BE SO INCONSIDERATE OF ME!!  SHE IS THE MOST KIND AND CARING MONSTER IN THIS ENTIRE UNDERGROUND!  A-AND LOVELY AND BEAUTIFUL TO BOOT!  TRULY FIT TO BE QUEEN AND RULER OVER ALL!”

“...sounds like you carry a li’l torch for our lovely queen toriel, sansy…”, Papyrus teased, and Sans snorted, though he drew his cape a little higher around himself to hide the now-glittering blush on his cheeks.  Pressing his older brother a little more, Papyrus added: “i can hear your soul flappin’ like a big old sheet in a storm, big bro… and i bet the queen loves those adorable cheeks of yours even more with a blush like that all over ‘em-”

“PAPYRUS, PLEASE!  WHY MUST YOU VEX ME SO?!!”

“...next audience you get with her, you oughta request a big ol’ _smooch_ , sansy…”

“BROTHER, WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS KIND OF TORMENT?!”

“...or better yet, since ya sleep in the _palace_ , why stop at a _smooch_ , huh?”

“PAPYRUS!!  I WILL NOT HAVE YOU BESMIRCH QUEEN TORIEL’S LOVELINESS WITH L-L-LEWD REMARKS LIKE THAT!!!”, Sans said loudly, prompting Papyrus to pull his brother into a hug and renege on the teasing in favor of a more serious question.

“...at least tell me she won’t… _use_ you, bro.”

“SHE WOULD NEVER!!  Q-QUEEN TORIEL C-CARES DEEPLY ABOUT HER SUBJECTS!!”

“c’mon, you know what i mean, sans.  those ‘lewd’ things ya always get so flustered about are meant to be shared by people that _love_ each other, not-”

“...I WOULD NOT D-DO TH-THOSE THINGS WITH J-JUST ANYONE, BROTHER, AND S-SHE MAY BE… LONELY… BUT S-SHE ISN’T DESPERATE.  A-AND WE BOTH H-HAVE STANDARDS.  HIGH… STANDARDS.” Relaxing, Papyrus let go of his brother and pushed himself off the couch, walking over to the kitchen to hide his grin, which Sans might interpret as a mocking one; in reality, it was a _glad_ one.  His brother had such high spirits and ambitions, and the queen had been rumored to be utterly devastated by the death of her children and the subsequent events, as well as the demands of her position.  Maybe this… arrangement… with Sans could provide her with a little more hope and levity.  Turning around, he spoke to push away all thoughts of the previous topic of conversation.

“heh, c’mon, big bro - undyne cooked for me while ya were enjoying the capitol, but i missed your tacos-”  As always, the mention of appreciating his cooking skills got Sans to forget everything else: jumping up from the sofa and bounding over to the kitchen, the slighter of the two brothers spoke excitedly.

“AH, WORRY NOT, PAPYRUS, MY DEAR BROTHER!!  FOR I WILL COOK FOR YOU!  I HAVE SORELY MISSED THE DELIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN DURING MY STAY AT NTT RESORT, I MUST ADMIT!  ...LET US SEE, WHERE ARE THE TOMATOES… OH!  THE STATE OF THIS FRIDGE!!  UNDYNE MUST REALLY LEARN PROPER RESPECT OF OTHERS’ CULINARY ORGANIZATION!!...”


End file.
